Effects of alcohol and nicotine on free recall of relevant cues.

It is proposed that alcohol and nicotine will affect free recall of relevant cues and that these effects are mediated by changes in level of arousal. Alcohol (0.0 ml, 0.97 ml, or 2.33 ml per kg of body weight) and nicotine (no cigarettes, or two cigarettes each containing 1.3 mg of nicotine) were administered either individually or jointly to six groups of 15 men, such that different combinations of alcohol and nicotine induced different levels of arousal. Since subjects performed at chance level on recall of word-color, which constituted the irrelevant cue, no conclusions regarding the effect of the drugs on recall of irrelevant cues could be drawn. Under conditions of high arousal, induced by the administration of nicotine or a low dose of alcohol, immediate free recall of 20 adjectives was superior to recall in the low-arousal conditions (a moderate dose of alcohol administered either singly or in conjunction with nicotine) and in the control group. This finding is in line with the prediction that arousal, induced by nicotine or a low alcohol dose enhances attention to high-priority task components.